Saturday, September 25, 2010

I GIVE YOU GLORY, GLORY!!

Great worship music from Klaus @ Christ For The Nations, Dallas, Texas!!
It's all about the Glory of God!


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LORDSHIP SALVATION/ FREE GRACE- WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

LORDSHIP SALVATION/ FREE GRACE- DEBATE
Part 1
Evangelists Ray Comfort and Kurt Cameron
 There has been some blowback over several things appearing in this newsletter in the past months and one of them involves the teaching of the great Paul Washer. Over the past three decades, there has been a most unchristian-like, one-sided debate from those who are called "Free Grace" believers and the rest of us whom they term "Lordship Salvation".
The perjorative "Lordship Salvation" actually depends on your view of the Lordship of Christ in the believer's life. I would rather be talking about the Transformation Project being launched all over town this Fall by us, than this. However, the eternal destiny of many in the church depend on whether there is real regeneration of the soul or just a 'warm fuzzy feeling' generated by reciting a prayer...and then no follow up, discipleship or pointing in the right direction.
The main targets of whose who are insulted as "L.S'ers" are Dr. John MacArthur, Nancy Lee Demoss, Paul Washer and Ray Comfort with Kurt Cameron and Todd Friel thrown in for good measure! Just briefly, here are the definitions of both beliefs.
LORDSHIP SALVATION is the belief that salvation involves both a belief and repentance of one's sins. Repentance is the "turning away" from all known sin, giving complete (not partial) "Lordship" of our lives to Christ. Without this full commitment, one is only a nominal Christian and has yet to experience true conversion*. 
FREE GRACE is the belief that salvation involves a complete trust in Christ for salvation. Repentance is the changing of one's mind about who Christ is and their general attitudetoward sin (i.e. that sin is bad and we don't like it). This change of the mind will necessary bring forth the fruit of a change life, but one cannot determine what aspects must change or when the Holy Spirit will bring certain changes about*.
(* from "Parchment and Pen" by Mike Patton, Stonebriar Community Church. Lead Pastor - Chuck Swindoll)
Next issue - "Christ is the LORD of my Life
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Thursday, September 9, 2010

9/11 - NEVER, NEVER FORGET!













Tuesday September 11, 2001 - A day that will live not just in infamy but pain, suffering and outrage. The term 9/11 has been burned into the hearts and souls of a people.  

We watched in horror LIVE on TV, as a jihadist demoniac flew the 2nd passenger plane into the office tower.  


We watched in horror as our fellow citizens fell from smoking skyscrapers of glass and steel.  
We watched in horror as the symbols of freedom and capitalism were slammed by a religion from the sands of Arabia, whose thirst for conquest has never been quenched, this side of Christ's return.  
But we watched in amazement as Todd Beamer, praying and reciting Biblical passages, led a team of selfless heroes, as they stopped another attack on the US Capitol.
  
This September 11, 2010 somehow feels different. It has been marred by people of questionable backgrounds who somehow obtained an historic building in New York City to build an islamic center. This building is as unique as the waters of Pearl Harbor. Part of the engine of the first airplane to crash into the World Trade Center landed inside of this building, which the "developers" insensitively set to open on September 11, 2011! This is not a coincidence.  


Nevertheless - never forget....never forget the stories of Sujo John, the hindu convert to Christ, who stayed behind and led many to safety and a few to Christ as the Twin Towers collapsed. Never forget the FDNY who lost so many firemen in the service of saving many. And never forget the grieving ones left behind, scared for life and who are now reliving this nightmare one more time.  

Never lose a chance to tell them about a Gracious God - Abba Father, who sent His Own Son to die at the hands of merciless killers, that the world may be saved from the eternal fires of hell. Never fail to tell others about the Christ who was with many in the Pentagon, Flight 93 and the stairwells of the Twin Towers. Many died that day, who never met that Christ or accepted His Free Gift of Salvation. It is not too late to reach their loved ones, whose hearts are now tender and open to the REAL LOVE - AGAPE LOVE that only TRUE RELIGION - Christianity - can offer. It is not too late to reach ANYONE at ANYTIME!

Never lose an opportunity to share the Love, Peace, inner Joy and contentment which comes from knowing  Christ as Lord and Savior, in Jesus' Name, amen.
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Saturday, September 4, 2010

NO ONE IS LIKE YOU - KLAUS KUEHN

INSPIRED WORSHIP MUSIC FROM CHRIST FOR THE NATIONS!
THERE IS NO ONE LIKE JESUS - CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE!

Inspiration Devotional from Carla McDougal!


Your relationship with Jesus works the same way. The more time you spend in His Word, prayer, praise, worship, and fellowship with other believers, the more immersed your walk with Christ becomes. As a result, the relationship’s condition strengthens on a daily basis. See where I am going? This is such an important concept to grasp! It frees you from bondage of thinking that your position depends upon your performance as a Christian. Praise God, it is all about Him and not about us!”  -  Carla MacDougal
 “We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” – Isaiah 64:8
Courtesy our friend -Guest Blogger Nikki Hahn!
 Read Daniel 3:8-30.

“I’m going to go and work in the soup kitchen to help the poor.” A believer said aloud with emphasis on the word poor as if he were better than them.
I once mentioned in our Fellowship Group about my objections to using the word poor. I feel it demeans a class of people and clumps them together as a helpless bunch of people victimized by their circumstances. I also feel poor infers unintentionally that we are somehow better than they because of our choices or the money we have (or don’t have) in our accounts. When I hear something like the above I almost hear the check list each Christian unintentionally keeps to confirm that they are a good person:
  1. Serve in Soup Kitchen. Check!
  2. Donate money and food. Check!
  3. Volunteer at every charitable event. Check!
  4. Do an act of kindness. Check!
 “Before we continue, it is vital that you fully understand this fact: The moment you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, you are His forever. Your eternal position in heaven is secure because of His work on the cross and your faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. By trusting Jesus as your Savior, you now have a personal relationship with God forever. Nothing you can do will remove your eternal position.” Says Carla MacDougal. 
I often question my motivations.  Am I volunteering for the right reasons? Or am I trying to earn grace? Am I donating out of the love in my heart? Or am I trying to earn grace? Am I doing an act of kindness so I can seem that I have it altogether as a good Christian? Would our faith withstand a fiery furnace seven times hotter than normal? Or would we falter in fear and choose to worship a false god or do something that we know would not please our Lord to avoid possible death, humiliation or persecution?
“Evangelist Sammy Tippet recently spoke to Mission Network News about the persecution that is happening in the United Kingdom and coming here to the United States and all under the guise of hate crime laws.  Under these hate crime laws it is dangerous for Christians because the actions and words of Christians are under attack, and these are the things that lead to arrests and persecution for devoted followers of Jesus Christ.”  Persecution Blog continues to say, “Evangelist Sammy Tippit believes the manipulation of these laws is part of an alarming trend throughout the secular world. He said, “There’s a spirit (and it’s very difficult to understand) that has come with secularism that has really been against Christianity. It’s a darkness that has been growing, and it’s been very antagonistic towards Christianity. But the interesting thing and the thing that makes it so difficult to understand is that this does specifically target Christianity and not other religious groups.”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were given a choice—worship Nebuchadnezzar’s god or get tied up and thrown into a furnace seven times hotter than normal to burn alive. They chose loyalty to our God and TRUSTED God in their situation.  Several strong soldiers tied them up and threw them into the furnace.  Nebuchadnezzar watched them through the flames. There were four men walking around in the flames. He threw only three men into the furnace! None of them were burning!
“I love that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked around in the fire. They didn’t sit or stand, but they kept moving as their hands were freed from their bindings. With excitement, I can say that they came out of the fire unharmed! Their clothes were not singed, nor did they smell of smoke. God received all the glory from their experience!” Says Carla MacDougal.
I love what Stacy Harp over at Persecution Blog says, “I may experience a death in my family, I may deal with serious sickness, and I may go through financial hardship, but these are nothing when I hear what others are suffering right now for their faith: a sister in Pakistan abused by her employer, a brother in Egypt strung up by his ankles and tortured with an electric baton, a couple in Iran whipped with steel cables. That is true suffering.  The apostle Paul went through many of these sufferings —shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonment — and yet in Romans 8:18 he writes, “…our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed…” Think about that. If Paul says that the hardest things we experience on earth are not even worth comparing to future glory of God’s fully-established kingdom, how great is that glory going to be?” 
Most people serve with full hearts. I work and walk among these people. Some of their pasts are raw and messy. God has certainly put them through the firing process! He put me through the firing process, too. Maybe you might disagree with me about the word poor and maybe you might feel defensive about my Christian Checklist. It’s just an observation and a reminder that no matter what I do in my life it isn’t good enough. Only by my belief in Christ am I saved because He walked to the cross willingly and died a traitor’s death, for me—for you. He was sinless.  Then, He rose again!  And the rest as they say is history
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